


Star wars: Survival within the Empire

by Shadowoof



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: But to name main characters, Dak Noth, Euna Hassan, F/M, Groz, Jerock Tornra, Magnus - Freeform, Meleh 'Lady', Mostly an original product. Most known character's will be villains or the like., Ovasu Lottatock, crockpot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-29 23:54:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20805074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowoof/pseuds/Shadowoof
Summary: Five years into the reign of the empire, a young Padawan turned young woman tries to lead a life beyond her training, but the Empire is persistent to remove any and all remains of the Jedi, forcing Euna to fight for her life, but her foes go beyond the empire still, as she moves forwards, meeting friend and foe alike, will she die before the fated end of the empire, or live to see a new hope.





	1. A rough beginning.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is no easy start. No peace. Not when you're a Jedi. 
> 
> Or was. A girl now. A girl that did anything to survive, even if that meant forgetting her life of a Jedi.
> 
> But events will force her to take her past head on. Her destiny is about to unfold, and she won't be alone in that. This is their start.
> 
> And it is no where near the end.

_Outer rim. Three days from Bespin. 'The Willow' Supplies and transport ship. _

"Karloret! That hyperdrive fixed yet?" Dobba called from the safety of the hall, his thick Crolute accent stinging her ears almost as much as the claustrophobia. She didn't like Dobba, but Dobba was the only reason she was on a ship in the middle of space, and that was better then anywhere else right now.

"That Purrgil dented the hyperdrive. We'll lucky to be alive, and not too far from a space station like Cloud city Dobba. You'll just have to wait." Karloret called back, shifting to get some feeling back into her legs. Not only was the hyperdrive dented, but so was the room it was contained in, badly. They were lucky there wasn't a break in the hull. Just a really bad dent, one she had to crawl into because she was the only one small enough to do so.

Or so they said. She'd say the others were just scared. Crawling slowly and carefully, because braver or not, they were right to be afraid. Damaged Hyperdrives were bad news. And She didn't even want to think about what a class four hyperdrive could do if it exploded. "Cheap ass." She muttered under her breathe. Class four was the slowest hyperdrive one could get and Dobba seemed like the kind of chap who would have one.

"Did you say something?" He asked, and she sighed, pulling herself free from the tight, broken hall and shaking her head when she faced him. "Good. Now check the stock room and make sure that sleaze bag Dulla hasn't taken any of the lasbac fruits." He groaned, and Penny held back her groan. Of course he left his brother alone. Sleaze was a good word. Dulla, despite his baggy and dried skin, thought he was the forces gift to the galaxy.

"Got it. Am I good to sleep after that?" She asked with a raised brow, and he gave an annoyed grunt, which she took as yes, and that was good enough for her.

Finding the clip pad, Karloret entered the storage room and starting counting crates, finding about three of them badly fixed back into place, obviously open. Checking the crates, two were lasbac fruit, so she assumed one of the crates had gone sour, and the other crate was... "Huh, that's weird. It says scrap metal... Why would he be checking the scrap." Curious, far more then was safely so. She sought to seek out why.

Placing the tablet aside, Karloret placed her hands on the box and froze still. She was cold, strangely so... This wasn't a box of scrap. Quickly prying the box open, so fast a lance of pain shot through her finger when a splinter dug into her finger. But she got the lid and threw it up. "What... No... Is this refined spice? We shouldn't have this on the ship." She told herself, because it was true. Spice could be used a number of ways, but importantly, it could be used for highly dangerous drugs, or recreational, which she assumed might have been what Dulla was doing.

Pinching her skin for the splinter, she glanced over to the pad and scrolled for more scrap, and suddenly, but not so surprisingly, she found more, at least five more crates. An inspection told her that no scrap was in any of those crates. "I got a bad feeling about this..." Muttering under her breath, Euna walked to the nearby comm and picked it up. "Someone pick up." She called, and waited a few seconds.

"What!" An angry groan called back, and despite the garble, she knew who it was. "Dobba, you got five crates of scrap on the manifold, right?" She asked, and he grunted aloud, taking a few slobbery seconds to finish whatever it was he was eating before answering back.

"Yea. Dulla wanted them. Said there was a good trade for scrap at Nar Shaddaa. Why?" He asked, sounding more cranky that that he had to answer what was a stupid question to him, but she knew he was going to be even crankier.

"Well, I found that none of them actually have scrap in them. They all have spice, refined too. Also he got at two of the lasbac fruit crates." She added at the end, and then held the comm away from her ear as she walked back to the first one, peeking inside to confirm she wasn't seeing things. But no, there were several jars of spice inside of them.

"I'll kill that bastard brother of mine! Thank you Karloret, thank you." He continued to speak, but she ignored him. She got that strange feeling for a reason beyond jars of dust. She peered closer, and the glint of a red light caught her eye.

Reaching down past the smooth glass, Karloret grasped her fingers around cool metal, and pulled up a long range communicator. "Dobba... Dulla has a long range communication device here... Does this ship have scanning abilities?" She asked, the panic cool in her voice, calm more then she should be.

"What? No. Why." He told her, and the only thing she could think was of course he didn't. Anything to be cheap. Maybe this wasn't the safest place for her.

"Call it a feeling... Then ether get this ship moving, or tell the pilot too, I think Dulla might have tapped the ship for a pick up." Karla warned him, slapping the crate's lid down. With a frown, she looked at the long range comm and turned it over. "It's on... Dulla! Get us moving now!" She yelled into the speaker right as the ship rocked, an explosion could be heard as she stumbled to the side, rocked by the explosion.

"Damn it. I need... They won't destroy the ship... Might be a few pirates... Just a few... I need to get to my room." She decided. Her room had the answer. All the answers she ever needed for any situation. Another explosion rocked the ship again, but she managed to keep her balance this time.

It didn't matter, the creak of metal groaned and she turned to see a crate falling, and nothing more as a bit of pain struck her head, followed by a swift decent into darkness...

* * *

_Mid rim. Final day of the clone wars. The planet Malastare._

_"Euna! Euna you need to get up right now! EUNA! _Come on!" Euna lifted her head groggily, the world shaking all around her, voices only just coming back, clear as day. She waded her sight towards it, sighting her friend and mentor.

"Gamble... Gamble!" She called out, and suddenly he was right in front of her, his clone armor covered in dust and dirt and scorch marks. "Gamble!" She shouted again, and he bonked her head hard. "Oww."

"Come on Commander. We need to move. The General needs us." He ordered her, and she obeyed, shaking away the pain and standing back up.

Euna Hassan was a Sephi girl of fifteen, with a petite body and a pretty face. An half-Sephi but she didn't often speak too much about that, and she wasn't just a girl ether, she was a Padawan, commander of clone forces, a solider of the clone war. She had brown hair the lapped softly at her shoulders and neck, curled and matted with dirt, violet eyes that scanned the battlefield, light clothes that kept her agile, showing off her midriff, but long, flexible pants that fit snugly to her, a belt with two hanging robes on the front and back to signify her Jedi likeness.

Her lightsaber was perhaps her most defining feature in the battlefield however. Mostly a mix of dark grey and silver, with electrum overlays that were colored blue that circled the hilt to the pommel, with a single line going right to the emitter, which was mostly smooth save a edged point that almost outlined the edge of the blade when it was emitted.

She activated her lightsaber, the blue blade shining brightly as she maneuvered herself past Gamble and blocked a red laser bolt that had been aimed at him. "I got it. That blast just dazed me a bit. Gamble, take a squad to that cliff top, start laying fire from above, I'll clear a path to it, then change course towards the general." Euna ordered the clone, and he nodded his understanding, rushing over to a group of clones that had been taking fire while she was out.

Glancing to a nearby rock, Euna held her hand out and reached with the force, grasping the large rock, she lifted it and then flung it towards the battle droids, running after it as she did.

The rock crashed into the leading B2 battle droid, leaving the B1's momentarily confused before Euna jumped upwards, and with a downwards swing, splitting one of the droids in two. "Loser droid says what?" She asked another, and for a moment, it stood there, stunned as if it's audio receptors were trying to figure out a response, and instead of shooting.

"What?" It said, and she quickly sliced it in half with her lightsaber, force pushing three more to the ground as a clone took them out right after, she gave him a smile and a nod before glancing to the droid she had cut in half.

"Exactly. Move up!" She called out to her squad, before rushing ahead, cutting and cleaving droids apart as she went. She'd been a padawan for two years now, the war was just about all she knew of her training under her master, and that made battle droids, separated like this, easy pickings.

Soon enough, she sighted her master, a Theelin-Human hybrid. Something Euna had always considered ironic, or aptly chosen, a master/apprentice hybrid duo. Master Tyla was in the midst of battle with a group of B1's, easily dispatching them with a grace the girl hoped to emanate one day. "Master!" She called, and Mothbra Tyla turned to her apprentice.

"Padawan. I assume you're not just here to see me." The Jedi asked, casually deflecting a blaster bolt as she did, Euna smiled and stood up just a bit straighter, but kept her guard ready.

All of a sudden, a rain of fire as blue lasers rocketed from above, the angle given to the clones allowed them to easily turn the clankers in the area to dust before any of them could even react, or any of the smarter ones could find cover. "Of course not Master. Just helping clear the way!" She informed the general as she went lax with her guard, and Tyla shook her head with a wistful smile.

"Oh apprentice. You're far too smug and far too good at hiding it to be showing it now." She stated, her voice light to what should have been a scolding. Being smug wasn't very Jedi, Euna thought, but... Most of the Jedi knights she had met had such an air, so much so she adopted that air every once and a while. What was wrong with that?

The two moved forwards, clearing droids and aiding clone troopers where they could. Their battle wasn't an important one, like the ongoing siege in Mandalore, but every territory they could take or defend from the separatist must have been equally important, even a small planet like Malastare, the planet had a trade deal with the republic and more importantly, it was once home to the last Zillo beast, or was so claimed.

"We're pushing them back. Another victory huh?" Euna commented, watching as the battlefield grew quiet, the occasional blaster heard as a clone found a droid, but overall, it was a decisive victory, and she had no reason to think otherwise.

"Perhaps... Yet I sense the battle is far from over... No. I sense... Something is coming." Master Tyla grew quiet, gathering her thoughts as Gamble jogged over, but seeing that the general looked preoccupied, he turned towards Euna.

"Hey kid. Good job sighting that crop. High ground always seems to be on our side." He commented, and she smiled. It was the last thing she saw before that explosion, yet the first thing that came to mind when she had to be a commander.

"My pleasure Lucky." Lucky-Gamble was the clone Euna knew the most. In fact, she partially gave him his name after he had saved her. Two rookies to a war, only she was physically undamaged. Gamble however, had been badly hurt, taking a gamble and getting lucky, lucky enough to survive with only a missing nose and a burn scar all along his left cheek, all for her.

She could never thank him enough for it.

"Gamble, send some scouts ahead, and behind us... I sense an attack coming, but I do not know where from." Master Tyla ordered and the clone shifted his attention from the padawan to the general, swiftly nodding and grabbing some units to do just that.

"Master?" Euna was curious. She didn't sense anything, and she was quite sure the droids were not smart enough to flank them. Surprise them even.

"Euna... If I tell you to run. Run. Understand me? Do you remember where we landed? Take your ship, and leave." Her master whispered, and Euna was stunned. She had never heard the older woman sound so... Afraid.

"I don't under-" Euna wanted to pursue this. Understand where this fear came from, but they were interrupted when Gamble came back with five more clones. "Oh, hey Gamble. What's up?" She called out to her friend, but his silent response was all she got back.

Mothbra Tyla put herself between her apprentice and the clones, eyes wide as she looked to the cliffs that surrounded them, more clones had arrived. "My apprentice... Run." Was all she said before igniting her lightsaber and charging the clones, who began to fire back in earnest.

"Wait, what!? Stop fighting!" Euna called out to everyone, but none listened, none but Gamble, who had dodged out of the way of her master's attack, armed a grenade, and threw it to Euna, who stood there, stunned...

And that was all she remembered of the fall of the Jedi.

* * *

_The_ Willow._ Mid take over. _

When Euna... _No. Not my name, not anymore. _When Karloret had awoken, her hands were tied, her head was still stinging, and the room smelt of... Spice. Lazily looking around, she found that the rest of the crew was in a similar position, the rest of the crew being about a dozen and a half, including the Crolute brothers, one of which, wasn't tied up. That one, being Dulla.

"Ah, the curious loth-cat has woken. Welcome back to the world pretty. You mutter in your sleep, you know?" A voice spoke, and she turned to find a face far too close to hers. She leaned away and the man laughed, standing up and walking among the tied up crew. He was a Kiffar, near human, but the dark skin tone, braided hair and yelled spiraled facial tattoo that ran down the side of his face told her enough. His eyes were quite pretty, she noted, rather strangely and she shook her head to focus.

He wasn't alone, joined by a crew of armored pirates, who all bared a symbol of the Crimson dawn, a rather elite and dangerous criminal syndicate. While Dobba's crew outnumbered them by nearly ten, none of them had weapons and she could assume half, if not all of them couldn't fight.

"Alright lady's and gents. Thanks to... What was it." He looked to Dulla for an answer, who looked rather worried himself despite not being tied down, still stuttered and blanked for a moment.

"Kar... Karlor... Karla." He finally finished, and she hissed out an angry hiss. Of course he forgot her name, and he just had to tell them what part he could muster.

"Karla. Love it. Karla here, made us act a little early you see, when she accidentally found one of the crates Dulla here promised the crimson dawn. Here is the problem. Five crates of spice isn't enough to earn his good graces back, so we planned to wait until y'all landed on... cloud city was it? Take the spice, and Dulla, and then leave. So thank you Karla, for saving us the trip." The Kiffar stated, and she earned a few good angry glares, but most of them were directed to Dulla, who took a few seconds to realize that he was still screwed.

"Hey! Hey wait a minute, this wasn't the deal!" He cried, and one of the crimson dawn slammed the butt of the blaster they held into the fish man's head, fat and slob hitting the ground hard.

"Now... To be fair. We had planned on letting y'all go. But we can't really have any of you chasing us. And considering how angry the other fish fucker looks, I think that might be a real problem. So we're taking half the crew. Don't worry, unless you really piss me off, I'm sure to sell you off to someone... Moderately nice." The kiffar threatened, and Karla slumped against the wall.

Enslaved, or left with half a crew and most likely an unpaid job. Things could be worse? She was pretty, perhaps she'd get a good job as a dancer, and hopefully nothing more... Better news would be she had to pull half of this crew together and somehow get them to Cloud city. After that, she would be gone. 

Her hopes were shattered when another two crimson dawn came from a hall, where their rooms were, and walked up to the Kiffar, "Tor-rado. We found this in one of their rooms." He said, holding out a cylinder like object, and Karla felt her heart sink. They found it.

"Holy shit... Holy shit. Dulla... Did you know." With an almost silent scream, the buzz of a lightsaber lit the room as Dulla stiffened, a blue light emitting out of his gut. "A Jedi was on this ship." Tor-rado, the kiffar, smiled, as he turned the lightsaber off and let the body of the crolute drop to the ground, much to the dismay of his brother.

"Dulla! No. You bastard. I'll kill you!" Dobba raged, and he met a swift end to another playful swing of the lightsaber when Tor-rado reactivated it.

"Damn this is fun... You know. I bet the empire would really... Really like a Jedi... Hey, if the Jedi is given up... I'll let the entire crew go." Tor-rado said, and suddenly eyes all looked at each other. A crew had become a battle royal as they all tried to deduce who was the Jedi among them. Some of them most likely didn't even know what the word meant. The empire did a good job of making Jedi more myth then legend.

"Wonderful." Karla uttered under her breath. Not the life of a dancer for her it seemed. No. It was at the end of a barrel, a line of storm troopers in front of her... Or the dark hunter of the empire himself.

Vader...

Half an hour later, and no one had been outed as the Jedi... Or more correctly, no one had been correctly outed as the Jedi. Bitter rivals and those wanting this to end called the name they hated most, and after a while, the pirates and mercenary's decided they had enough of it.

Tor-rado, with her lightsaber in hand, waved it about before he stood up, as if an idea came to mind. "I know. I know how we find the Jedi. There are fourteen of you. Now from what I remember of Jedi, they are beauty, they are wisdom, they are old. You three." He gestured towards three of the armored pirates. "Start finding those who you... I don't know. Find attractive I guess, and put them there, then find the old and wisdomy looking ones, and put them over there, put the rest over there." He ordered, and the three got too it, finding the older of the group first before moving to the attractive.

Out of fourteen, five had been moved to the 'old and wisdom area' and three had been put into the attractive area, of those three, was a human male, a female rodian and Karla herself. To be fair to the crimson dawn, looks were not a commodity to Dobba's trade. And she had to admit, the two beside her were indeed attractive. The female rodian, she didn't remember her name, was of a vibrant dark blue, her skin looked clean and fresh. The human was attractive in the male sense. He was slim and tall with some muscle, giving him a more rugged and aged look. And she knew his name.

Jerock. The only name she remembered, because he was as quiet as her, but a lot nicer. That just made her remember. She hadn't even paid attention to his looks before being compared to him here.

With everyone seated, the pirates still had a problem, eight out of fourteen had been routed out, but eight was still too much for the Kiffar, who tapped her lightsaber against his head in annoyance. He was lucky he still had his head with how he was treating it. "Okay... Okay. How about this... The six in the center here... Will die. One by one with the Jedi's very own lightsaber... Then the wisdom ones will die... Then the pretty ones. Including you handsome." Tor-rado called out to everyone, but smiled to Jerock with what seemed like a teasing glow, and the room grew far more quiet. Would he really kill everyone to find her?

She knew he would. Jedi or none, that lightsaber would still fetch quite a price. Her eyes scanned the room. Could she escape? Was there a path where she could get... Did Dobba even have escape pods? Even if he did... She wouldn't get far. They were in the midst of space, an escape pod could easily be tracked by their ship... Maybe she could take their ship...

Jerock stood from his seated position, his hands tied like the rest. Tor-rado put his attention on the man, and in silence, he smiled. "Ah, so you claim to be the Jedi? Look at that everyone. You're saved." He mockingly said to everyone, basically calling them cowards. He walked up to the tall man, and with a smile, he held the lightsaber out to him. "Prove it. Take the lightsaber from me."

Jerock stared down at it, his face a blanket of calm. Euna knew he wasn't the Jedi, yet the way he stood... He was a hero. He was a Jedi as far as every eye was concerned. "It's been five years. I don't remember." He spoke, softly, but right into the pirates face with a southern like drawl. The two stared at another, before Tor-rado lightly smacked the man on the cheek a few times.

"You're what? Thirty? Damn you look good for thirty." Tor-rado commented, and Jerock smiled a dangerous smile.

"I'm forty five. We Jedi just know how to look good." He spoke, and Karloret had to look at him. Forty? She'd have never guessed. No one else could have had as well.

"Damn.. I should put you between old and attractive. You'll do. Welcome to the crimson dawn Jedi. Your stay is short, exotic, and will end with me getting paid and you dying. Guess what everyone! You're free to go!" He called and the crimson dawn lowered their weapons, before moving to the boxes of spice. "We'll be taking the spice, the lives of your captains and the Jedi. Have a safe flight." He said in farewell, grabbing Jerock by the arm and dragging him towards the hall back to the airlock.

Karla would have liked to say she wanted to help the poor man, who would be brought to the empire as a Jedi. She was sure they'd find he wasn't, but then he most likely would be killed anyway... And her lightsaber... They were taking her lightsaber.

But mostly she wanted to stay seated. Get to Bespin, and leave. Find a new ship. Get back to the outer rim and hide. Hide from the galaxy, hide from the empire... Hide from herself.

_Did she really die for you? _A voice rattled, so quiet, no one else heard it, yet so loud, it boomed within her. _You were a Jedi. A hero of the republic. Not a coward._ It continued, and she closed her eyes. She didn't need her lightsaber. It was the only fragment of her old life she could never let go of. _And you're letting it be taken from you. If you want to let go, then you must let it go. _The voice told her, and her purple eyes opened. Was she so weak to let go of her life.

_Euna Hassan. Karloret Nobota. Two names, but still one person. Still the padawan. Still the Jedi... Still. "Still a filthy, pathetic coward. Truly, a Jedi." _A voice rung out, and she saw the burnt face of Gambol peering at her, his smile one that didn't make his face any better. He was laughing at her, and her alone for her inability.

"No..." She whispered, the rodian looked at her, confused, but Karloret stood. "No... I am pathetic... But I will not let someone else die for me again." Karla decided, looking ahead at two of the crimson dawn, who had lacked behind to deal with a rather annoying crate of spice.

"Stay down girl." One of them ordered, and left it at that, but the other one kept an eye on her as she started to move forwards towards them. He kicked at the one that spoke first, who looked and held his weapon up to try and scare her off. "I said stay down. I have no qualms killing you." He stated, and she kept going.

"You'd try." She told him, suddenly dashing into the a run, the two aimed blasters at her, but she jumped up and kicked them both in the face. Landing between them, she easily swept one of them with a foot off the ground, and charged the other with her shoulder, knocking him towards the ground, and just for show, she kicked their blasters away right as they both hit the ground.

Hands still tied, she fitted the crate onto the repulsorlift and started running it down the hall to the airlock. It was stupid. Beyond anything logical. Yet she was doing it. This is what Jedi did, right?

* * *

_'The mighty rock' Crimson dawn vessel. Jerock Tornra._

"You're a stupid, brave, handsome man. What's your name?" Tor-rado asked, and Jerock sighed wistfully, giving the young pirate a long sideways glance. He was walking alongside the young pirate and one of his guards. The others had all moved to storage or whatever it was they did on this ship.

"Jerock. And how do you mean." He asked, because why not. He had signed his death so that everyone else could live, but he wasn't going to die bored.

"Jerock. Name of the man who cried Jedi. You can stop acting all high and mighty by the way, I know you're not the Jedi." Tor-rado revealed, and for the first time in a while, Jerock had been surprised. Not counting when he saw a lightsaber. No one could be blamed for being surprised at the sight of one of those. "What? You think a actual Jedi would give themselves up? The traitors and cowards of the Empire? Please. The Jedi would have let all of you die." He ragged on, and Jerock felt confused. If the pirate knew that he wasn't a Jedi, then why?

"I suppose you're not going to trade me into the empire?" He asked instead, and got a laugh in reply, a laugh that lasted several seconds.

"No! I'd be an idiot to try and trick the Empire. No... I got this lightsaber to sell. Or keep. Haven't decided. No, I decided that you. Jerock. You got balls. How you'd feel joining my crew?" Tor-rado asked, and Jerock stared long and hard at the younger man. He didn't have a choice, Jerock realized. If he said no, then that lightsaber in those hands would be the death of him. If he said yes... It wasn't any better. He didn't like the idea of being a pirate. Far too dangerous.

"Why do you think of the Jedi so bad?" He asked, hoping to buy some time to think.

"What? Well... Duh? They kept that war going for so long, and then they tried to usurp the republic. Thus the Empire rose out of the ruined ashes of what was a failing government. Or something. I didn't really care then and I don't care now." Tor-rado told him, and Jerock scoffed. "What?"

"I was a solider. A planet had fallen under the rule of the Separatists. They wanted to use our planet for droid manufacturing, and they weren't giving us a choice. Like slaves, we were driven to mine their ores... Until the Republic came. Jedi leading the charge. It was the final days of the war... I had joined a small militia to aid the clone troopers. We were winning, all thanks to a couple that held a blade like the blade you hold now... Until the clones fired on the Jedi. Mid battle. Mid war. The clones killed the two Jedi, then kept fighting. We lost that battle... But the droids were deactivated not long after... I lost a lot of good people because the republic turned on the Jedi." Jerock explained, more emotion in his voice then he had meant, his eyes looked at the young pirate wearily, as if he expected to die any moment.

But the young man just nodded. "Right. I suppose every side has a tale. Not that it matters. Will you join me or not?" He asked once more, sounding impatient. Jerock had to give him an answer, and that answer would be yes. Even if he didn't mean it, but the older man had no wish to die this day.

Just as he was about to respond, a noise stopped them. It sounded like an alarmed shout, then a crash. "What is that?" He asked, and by the looks of it, Tor-rado had the same question. Getting a communicator out, the young man stepped towards the noise and brought it close to his lips.

"What is happening? What do you mean one of them is on the ship? Stop them!" He yelled into the mic, before turning it off and giving Jerock a shrug. "Seems my boys are dealing with a brave pest. Should be... Alright... What is that?" He asked, and Jerock looked down the hall to see one of the spice crates floating down the hall towards them on a repulsorlift.

"Weird." Jerock added, his sharp eyes looking for... Fingers. Pale fingers could be seen gripping the top of the crate, just the tips, a less perceptive eye wouldn't see them-, but the older man couldn't think it plausible. Those things didn't move by themselves, and whoever was holding on had to be at their last gasp. Their fingers alone must be burning. This was a stupid plan, but he didn't know anyone on that ship with the guts to pull it... At least, he thought he knew no one could...

With a sudden burst, as if pushed by an invisible force, the crate suddenly raced forwards, crashing into Tor-rado, and with it's sudden stop, the figure rose from the back of the crate and pushed off it, performing a front flip off the crate and onto the ground ahead of him.

Jerock didn't recognize the young woman for a moment, but the moment she grabbed the guard that had been next to him, and rolled the man over her hips, only to deliver a hard kick to their helmeted face, did he know who she was. Karloret, the dagger ear engineer. She kept to herself, she fixed just about anything that got broken, if it was fixable, and kept to herself. Why was she here? "What..." He tried to speak, but her purple eyes glanced at him like daggers, like his presence annoyed her.

Amazingly, her hands were still bound, but that didn't stop her from getting here. "Stupid bitch." A voice, weak, but angry called, and the two turned to Tor-rado, who was holding onto his head, his other hand holding the lightsaber.

"Mmm." The young lady sounded, and Jerock stepped back as she walked up to the younger man, and with a round house kick, knocked the man back into the ground. "Idiot could have lost a limb holding my lightsaber like that." She muttered, and Jerock's eyes went wide. _My? _

"Your lightsaber? You're the Jedi?" He asked stupidly. Of course she was the Jedi.

She looked at him, and for the first time, he saw the young woman look unsure. Still, she retrieved the unique and deadly cylinder of a weapon. "Hold your hand out." She told him, and he did, both of their hands were contained by stun-cuffs, so she was quick to place her lightsaber in his hands and turn it on.

He nearly dropped it from the surprise and weight of the weapon, but the woman was quick, thrusting the middle of the stun cuff she held into the saber, and cutting the cuff into two. She took the blade back and held it out for him. "Hurry up. We don't have much time before the other pirates catch up. You risked your life for me... And I guess I'm making sure nether of us die. So come on." She told him, and Jerock stood stunned for all but a second.

Her actions saved him from a deadly life of servitude. She may not know that, but... With a hesitant thrust, the lightsaber burned through the middle of his own cuff, and thus both of them were free. "Okay. What now." He asked, and she smiled.

"This is a big ship. I'mma assume there is a hanger. We steal a ship, and boom. Hyperspace out of here." She declared, before racing off, forcing Jerock to chase after Karloret... The Jedi.

The ship was indeed large. Larger then he had expected, but still the halls echoed the footsteps of the two, and the footsteps of the many, many angry pirates coming for them. His eyes wandered to the woman he was following, her movements sure and quick, and for a quick moment, he thought to stop. It was only a moment, but he didn't do it. Why, he asked himself. Besides the life of a pirate he really didn't fancy the idea of, if he stopped now, perhaps told them which way, he wouldn't die if they got caught. But she had brown hair.

That was enough for him to give her a shot.

She stopped for a moment, and skidded to a stop, and after a moment, she pointed down the right hall. "This way." She said, and he followed, and to his surprise, she got them there, the hanger suggested this ship was in fact a scavenger ship, a big one.

"How did you know?" He asked, and she shrugged. "You didn't?"

She shrugged again, and carefully started towards the ships, eyes glancing towards the open hanger doors. Only about six, with four of them being fighters, and the other two... Perhaps what they needed. "There was this whole thing with scavengers, me and... Lucky... An old friend had to stop a ship like this from making off with a whole lot of information. I recognized the halls of the ship and some storage rooms. It's a similar, if not same class of ship. Or a educated guess that turned out right. Come on. We need to get on one of these ships." She stated, and he watched her. Right. Jedi.

She was a solider as much as he was in that sense. But she was so young, and the war was... Were the Jedi really sending children into battle? "Where the hell are the guards?" He decided to ask, wisely glancing about the hanger.

"I assume looking for us? There is no way-" The girl dropped to the ground just as a laser went where her head was. "They found us." She muttered from the ground, rolling into a stand and rushing towards one of the freighter's.

"They're in the hanger!" A voice called, and Jerock recognized it, glancing over to sight Tor-rado, red welt on his head, and blaster in hand alongside two more armored crimson dawn. "Shoot them!" He roared, and suddenly red filled the hanger as the two dodged and weaved towards the freighter, right until one lucky laser hit the girl in the leg.

She let out a pained scream and collapsed to the ground, but this time, she didn't recover, yet rather then just lay there, the girl started to drag herself back up, and Jerock was right behind her, grabbing her by the pits of her arm and forcibly dragging her the rest of the way to the ship. "Come on!" He called as they got to the ramp, feeling the back hairs of his neck singe as heat passed over, a close and lucky miss. Getting her into the ship, he quickly closed the ramp and laid her against a wall, racing towards the cockpit. "Please have ignition codes... Yes."

Be it laziness, be it need for a quick airlift, it didn't matter, he quickly turned the shields on and lifted the ship off the ground, his eyes looking forwards and sighting the hanger doors slowly closing. "Crap... No I'm not ballsy enough to activate hyper drive in here. Come on." Starting towards their escape, for a moment, Jerock realized they weren't going to make it. If they weren't blown out of the air, they were dead. No matter what, they were dead.

"Sorry... Sorry Aideen..." He whispered.

"I got it." A weak voice called, and he looked behind him, Karloret was leaning against the door to the cockpit, a hand held out, her action followed by a loud sound. He turned to the closing hanger doors, only to find... They weren't closing any longer. In fact, they were opening, slowly, and with what looked like a struggle.

The loud sound could be attested to what sounded like metal roaring, groaning and fighting to move, but the girl held her hand out strong, and force alone the door held. Suddenly Jerock knew he could escape. "Punching it!" He yelled, flying them forwards with disregard for safety, right before they got out, he heard a thump hit the ground and the hanger doors started to close, but the ship missed being crushed by a shave as he found himself out in open space.

With no fear of crashing, Jerock loaded in the last coordinates the ship held and sent them into hyper space, the blue tunnel confirming their escape, and most importantly, their safety. "We did it... We got out! Nice job... Kid?" He looked back and saw the girl on the ground, sweat beading her forehead. Considering they had a moment to breathe, she was of concern.

Picking her up, he carried the girl towards the lounge of the ship and placed her down, before scouring for a med kit. The ship was stocked with one, thankfully, but it seemed that whoever owned it was more concerned with drugs then medical emergency's. Still, it had enough that he could help her. Including synthflesh, a gel that contained bacta.

The injure itself wasn't too bad. The blaster bolt had burned away any damage that could have caused bleeding, but it wasn't a pretty sight, and he expected the muscle in her leg to be jelly, cracked with burns. He wasn't terribly wrong, but it seemed like the damage wasn't as bad as he first thought. These Jedi were tough. Applying the synthflesh, he tore off the clothing around the wound before wrapping it in bandages, further coated with bacta. Made sense, he supposed. Criminals often got into jams where they might need a quick fix. At least the synthflesh would mean she'd heal nicely, and with no real scarring once the gel flaked away.

"There we go kid... Thank you... Damn. Who knew I'd be saving a Jedi. Let's hope we don't encounter any imperials then... Or the crimson dawn." He muttered, sitting down. The cockpit could wait, they'd feel when they left hyperdrive, and with no clue as to where he was going, he was happy to wait.

"Not this time Gambol... You didn't get me this time." She muttered, and he frowned, looking up at her. Her eyes were open, staring at a seat oppersite of her. No one was there, but the intensity of her stare, you could have sworn she was indeed seeing someone. "Not this time.." She finally whispered, her eyes closing slowly before falling to a soft hum of sleep.

Leaving her there, Jerock explored the ship, and for the rest of the day, that was it. Checking in on the girl, and checking out the ship, but eventually the world shifted and he found himself going back to the cockpit, only to pause in a mix of shock and horror. "Damn it. Damn it all. Not here. Not this planet... Why..." He asked the stars of space, staring at the pale, orb of a planet that was Tatooine.

* * *

_The Mighty rock. Tor-rado._

"DAMN IT. DAMN IT ALL. NOT THIS. NOT THIS FAILURE. WHY!" Tor-rado yelled to no one in peculiar, but the crimson dawned found themselves staying out of his way. He shoved one of the armored men and reopened the hanger, but no ship was in sight. They were gone. "And they took my ship!" He complained. He had two ships, and the one they took was a piece of garbage, but it was still his ship!

"Sir... What should we do?" Someone asked, and Tor-rado had no care to remember names. None of them mattered anyway. Only one name mattered.

"Forget that vessel. Let them go. We're going to finish the job. So do your job!" He yelled, leaving the men to do whatever they needed too. He had something to do.

"How had no one... I knew I should have hired some more men. These goons he gave me aren't enough. If we had more, then maybe instead of all going where she was, they could have gone to where she was going. So stupid... And so lucky. Damn Jedi magic." He argued, heading to his room, and turning on his communication projector.

He had to stand patiently for a few seconds, but eventually, the face of his boss came, and Tor-rado suddenly became a little concerned. If it was any other matter, he'd leave it at the spice. No talk of the Jedi. But the crimson dawn goons were not really his, and they'd talk. It was better the boss heard from him. "Ah. Tor-rado. I suppose you have good news for me? You know I like good news." His boss asked, and Tor-rado gulped.

It was no good to make Dryden Vos, the head of the crimson dawn, angry. "We got the spice. Enough to make a good profit. We didn't capture Dulla. I killed him." Tor-rado admitted, and the red lines on Dryden's face shined for but a moment, even when his face was blue from the projector. He was good at pretending to be calm.

"You say things I don't like... But you're not begging. What else." He asked, and Tor-rado breathed easier. He was curious. Good.

"We found something of interest... TO be warned. This interest escaped... But we found a Jedi." Tor-rado said, and Dryden paused. Looking at him as if he wasn't being serious, but then Dryden decided it was smarter to assume his own lackey wouldn't joke about this matter.

"...I need some time to formulate a response. In the mean time. Bring back the spice... I will have more for you about how we deal with the Jedi after I... Discuss something." Dryden stated, and Tor-rado found the communication cut off.

"That went better then I expected... Spice first..." He told himself, but a hand trailed to his cheek, still sore from the kick that had been swiftly delivered to him by the girl. The Jedi. "Then... No matter what." He said, a evil smile creeping onto his lips. "Then. The Jedi. I owe her... Quite a bit."

She ruined his plan. Disabled several of his men. Kicked him. Stole his captive and his ship. This Jedi... Powerful, graceful, beautiful... "I think I'm in love."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Welcome to Star wars! Now if you're here reading this, it means two things. You like star wars, you somehow like my writing and story telling. Maybe it means both, but this has been a bit of a pet project I've wanted to start for a while now, but life had been rather bothering until lately. Still, here it is, and it's interesting. Making me check the lore of star wars more, and considering artistic styles of story telling, such as location cards before every perspective. And that is how I will be telling the story, in a number of perspectives. Now, this is an AU, and it will feature events not told in the canon, but also canon characters, albeit I hope to tell a story with mostly my own characters. Star wars is a big galaxy full of people. So it should be fun! 
> 
> But first, let's see how well this introduction to this little world of mine goes.


	2. A sandy escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatooine, a planet filled with sand, dangers and destinies yet unfilled, Jerock and Karla find the beginning of their destinies start on the planet too, yet there are more who will find their paths intertwined.

_ Outside of Tatooine space. Karlor-e-t- _ <strike> _ euna _ </strike>

When Karla awoke, it was too a buzzing. It kept growing and growing. “No… Not now.” She understood what was happening… It had been so long since the last time... Sitting upright, the girl winced from the pain in her leg, but she felt some comfort in it as well. It was the only real thing she had right now.

Allowing the pain to fuel her, she got on her knees and rested her hands atop them, closing her eyes to ignore the figure sitting across from her, his missing nose a stark reminder of her past. Settling into the meditation pose, Karla allowed the force to flow through her. The buzzing was already quieting. She didn’t dare open her eyes, in case the figure broke her focus.

“Remember what master taught you. Find the illness, bind it with the force. Allow it to heal you, calm you. Trust in the force.” Karla repeated the phrase her master had taught her, feeling the force do as she requested of it.

Finally, she opened her eyes. He was gone. She smiled to herself. The force… To use it came with a cost now. Another reason she hid herself. Another reason to avoid her past. “Ow..” Sliding carefully into the seat she was on, she finally had a moment to look around. This ship looked old and not well kept, but looking around, she noticed how there was plenty of containers and other odds and ends. 

That pirate must have kept this ship to store things. What a waste… Wait where were they?

* * *

_ Tatooine. Outskirts of Mos Eisley . Karloret. _

Karla hissed pain though clenched teeth as she walked down the ramp, having recovered enough to walk, and walk well enough for the sand. She wasn't going to just sit down, not now she had decided as she stepped up beside Jerock. “Why Tatooine?” She asked, knowing full well this wasn’t a planet to be on when unprepared. And they were seriously unprepared.

“Last place this ship had jumped too. Makes sense I guess. It’s a hell of a ship for transporting goods. And this planet is a spitfire of trade.” Jerock appraised the ship, giving it several long looks.

"It looks like rubbish. Certainly is filled with it." She commented on the vessel that had taken them to the planet. It really did look as she said. In fact, she was sure she hadn't seen this kind of ship before.

"It's an XS stock light freighter. An hell of an old ship. Still, you can find one being used every now and then... This one however. More a relic to be stared at and toyed with. The engines are modified to a point where I'm surprised it didn't overheat and burst apart on when we left hyperdrive... The hyperspace drive however, did. It's a class 2 that's been like the sublight engine, modified. I'd rate it... Maybe a 1.5. But it hadn't been used before, so one use and broke. We're lucky it survived the one use." He explained, looking over the ship with a sheen in his eyes. His words were harsh on the ship, but she could tell some part of him enjoyed being its presence. He seemed like a man who would proudly own such a ship.

"Well. Considering that it'd take far too long to get anywhere else without fixing the hyperdrive. I guess you've got some work to do... Thank you. For not just leaving me... Good luck." Karla patted the man on the shoulder and turned to leave, patting her legs down as she did. It was going to be a walk. But, she could escape back into the world of the unknown now. For now. Maybe she could stay here for a bit. She'd never been to Tatooine. But she had heard plenty about it. From the slug who apparently controlled most of it, to the origin of the hero of the republic. 

"Hey, wait, wait. One moment." Jerock called out to her, and she turned towards him as he came up to her, but she was only confused by the look of concern he had, hidden, but noticeable.

"What?" She obviously asked, but she was curious, she had assumed he'd had been happy to be rid of her. Her being a… Her once being a Jedi and all.

"Tatooine isn't... The best place. Mos Eisley is a literal hell hole. Smugglers, crime syndicates, bounty hunters. Anyone looking to hide from someone." He explained, but was left faltering when she chuckled at his warning.

"Sounds like the best kind of place for me... I don't think I can sneak this in however." She muttered, pulling the lightsaber from the clip on her hip. It was too big to be easily hidden.

"What I'm trying to say." Jerock stepped back and motioned to the ship. "Is that this ship isn't exactly made for one. I was on that ship the same as you, because I didn't have anywhere else. But a ship... A ship is a home. And you helped me out of a situation I didn't want to be in. Hell, you got me a new ship in the process. We make some credits. We repair the hyperdrive. We can go anywhere. Doesn't matter what you were. How about it." He said, and Karla looked past him at the ship. It was a rubbish looking ship... But. She liked the idea of it being her rubbish ship. She had never owned a ship like that before. Only a starfighter. 

"Co-captains then." She said suddenly, looking from the ship to him. "It'd be our ship... If I agree. Otherwise. It's yours." Karla decided, a little cautiously. She wasn’t fully into the idea, but for some reason she wasn’t fully against it. Jerock smiled in agreement, taking off his jacket as he did.

"Deal. Take this by the way." He threw the jacket over and she caught it, frowning at it. It was a bit hot for a jacket... Or so she had thought, but feeling the fabric, it was almost cool, as if insulated for the temperature, further exploration told her it had hidden pockets inside, some capable of carrying a blaster... Or a lightsaber.

"Thank you.." She whispered to him, pulling the jacket on and hiding her lightsaber inside it. It wasn’t a snug fit, just a little too big for her, but not so much it would hinder her.

"Alright then. We’ll head back into the ship. I saw some things that could be sold for a quick credit. Follow me. And keep close. Until we get you a blaster, best you're near someone who can use one." Jerock stated. Leading her back into the ship, he pointed out some odds and ends that could be sold for some credits before leading her towards the spaceport. It was a distance away.

"Is it safe to leave the ship here?" She asked, and he shrugged, before shaking his head.

"Not really. I removed some parts to keep it grounded, but Jawas don't exactly care if something can fly, so let's hope we get back before any find it. Or anyone else for that matter." He told her, and she frowned once more. It was going to be a long walk. She needed to converse.

"Are you really forty? You don't look it." She decided to ask, curiousness and a need for conversation driving her and that got a chuckle out of him. That was nice.

"Forty five. And an active lifestyle matched by a healthy diet can make anyone look a little younger. Isn't that why they consider Jedi to be good looking? Powerful warriors and all." Jerock shot back at her, and she had to admit... He wasn't wrong.

"The Jedi didn't really care about looks... It was just a side affect really." Karla stated with a cheeky smile, but she found it odd that the pirate had considered that the prime way of finding Jedi… It had only been five years, but how much of the Jedi myth had been lost? Jerock simply continued forwards as the girl found herself lost in thought. The both of them kept to silence. They had quite the walk ahead of them.

* * *

_ Tatooine. Mos Eisley. Jerock. _

Mos Eisley was about as bad as he remembered. Any normal person walking the street did so in fear. Children were about as rare as a good price, and every third head most likely had a bounty on them. That included him. He wasn't going to tell the girl that if he could help it however. Sooner they got some credits, and got out of here, the better. They just had to get some credits first. He could deal a mean hand of sabacc, but any game worth his while would be too dangerous.

They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, but he had a former Jedi on his side. That had to amount to something. "Tell me Karla. How did you manage to get credits normally? I assume you don’t have a salary anymore." He asked her, knowing she was close behind him.

"Karloret. Please. And I did small jobs. I have a knack for repairing droids. I also have a knack for breaking them." She told him, and he left it at that. A dirty way to play, but then, he couldn't blame her.

"Well. I know some people who'd prefer a cheaper price to some of these shops when it comes to droid repair... I got a plan." He told her, deciding that dangerous had to be worth it in the end.

"Oh? And that would be?" She asked, deftly avoiding someone looking to check her pockets. One of those rare children. He got a look at the boy, a rodian, who look displeased at being noticed, but holding some respect for his mark being able to recognize what he was doing. He had to respect her for that as well. He hadn’t noticed the runt.

"Use those talents of yours to fix some droids when you aren’t selling these bits and pieces from the ship. Anyone who doesn't look like they can afford the normal prices. Doesn't matter how many credits they give, just as long as you can fix multiple of them.. I'm going to go gamble with what I have." He told her, only to get a laugh, an rather insulting one.

"So. I'll go make credits. And you'll lose credits. Sounds fun." She told him, and he gave her a half smile.

"Oh what little faith you have. I'll be fine... Just. If things go south. Head back to the ship." He told her, and with that, they went there separate ways. She'd be fine, he had to keep telling himself. She was once a Jedi. Still a Jedi, he thought. She'd be fine.

* * *

_ Tatooine. Mos Eisley. Karloret. _

“Hello, would you like some odd ends? They’re quite rare.”

“Sorry to bother you sir, but I noticed your droids antenna looks crooked, perhaps you noticed it was lagging in some areas of work?”

“Sorry Ma’am. I have these old relics I was hoping to get off my hands…”

By the time Karla had sold off the trash they took from the ship, alongside a quick droid repair, she still only had about 45 credits. “This is worth… Maybe a meal. Certainly not enough to fix a hyperdrive.”

“Fixing a hyperdrive? Well that is my specialty.” A young voice interrupted Karla, and she turned to face a young looking blue skinned twi'lek. She had chubby cheeks that betrayed her youth when she was trying to stand tall, and her lekku, the twin tails on her skull, were short and tied behind her back, only just reaching her shoulder blades. 

“Sorry?” Karla frowned at the young girl, frowning deeper when she noticed what looked like a damaged R3 unit, its chrome a golden hue, but it had many dents in it, alongside it’s main chassis seemingly torched from damage, as if something had tried to tear it apart. 

“Ship repair. Hi, I’m Ova. This is Crockpot.” The twi’lek, Ova, motioned to the R3 unit, who quickly beeped out some annoyed words. Seemed it wanted to be fixed before a ship was. “I’m pretty good at fixing ships. If you have the credits.” She explained, flicking her nose. 

Karla looked down at the credits in her hand. No way would she have enough credits to hire someone to fix the engine. And she wasn’t a terrible mechanic… Looking down at the droid, an idea did come to mind. “I’ll offer you a deal. I’ll give you the credits I have now, plus more when my… crew mate gets back, and I’ll fix your droid up. He looks like he could use some maintenance.” She offered, watching as the young girl gave Karla a curious glance, looking between her droid and the credits in the young woman’s hands.

“How about we see if you can actually fix my droid before going any further.” Ova challenged, and Karla smiled, kneeling beside the droid. 

“You’re called Crockpot huh?” She asked the droid, who beeped with an anger she didn’t know could belong to a droid. “Really? She was going to use you for cooking?” Karla smiled. What made her stop, she wonder. 

“It wasn’t my fault!” Ova added, blushing. “I didn’t have a bowl at the time when I found him. He’s lucky I noticed his parts were actually still operational. Did a little work, but I’m more prepared to handle a ship then I am a droid.” Ova admitted, looking a little sheepish. 

“Well, you did a fine job. What happened to him?” She asked, but the droid was all too happy to explain, telling her that it was ambushed by some small hoods. “Oh I see. Jawas I guess? Wow, he wasn’t wrong huh.”

“Yea. Jawa’s can get pretty bad if you’re not careful… I’m surprised you’re so fluent in droid speak. I don’t meet many people who are.” Ova raised a brow, leaving Karla to shrug.

“I came too it easily. Guess it’s in my blood. Well, those jawas sure did some work. But I can fix up Crockpot here… I don’t have any tools. Do you have a screwdriver and a welder? Maybe a hammer?” Karla asked, watching as Ova tilted her head towards the young woman, before handing over the tools she had requested from what seemed to be a handbag the girl carried around. She was certainly prepared.

“I’ll just weld you up a bit, tighten a few screws and remove some of those dents. It won’t be a perfect fix, but you’ll feel a lot better. Can’t just fix you upright. I’ll need to see if your friend can repair a ship.” Karla looked up to Ova with a knowing smile. This was a game of seeing who gave more for less right now. Karla could have fixed the droid entirely and be left with nothing.

“Well?” Ova glanced down to the droid, who moved around a bit, before beeping with some satisfaction. “Hmm. Seems you do know what you’re doing… Fine. It’s a deal… Hey. Where did you get that jacket?” She asked suddenly. 

“Hmh? I’m just burrowing it from said crewmate for a bit. Why?” Karla frowned. Ova seemed to look at if as if she knew it.

“Nothing… My… Heh. The guy who saved me owns a jacket like that.” Ova admitted. “I haven’t seen him in a while, but it isn’t like that kind of jacket is rare or anything. Anyway. Take me to your ship. I’ll assess the damage and see what the price will be.” Ova smiled. Karla liked her. She had a spunk to her. 

“Sorry to disturb you ladies… Ova. How are you!” A man’s voice interrupted them, and Karla turned to see a older gentleman in heavy armor, flanked by a taller man covered head head to toe in heavier armor. 

“Jokka! Why are you here?” Ova asked, glancing between him and the larger man. “Is that…” 

“Sorry to disturb you, but we need to speak with the girl here.” Jokka interrupted the younger girl, turning his attention to Karla. 

“I’d prefer Karla over girl.” Karla was quick to say, looking between the two with a frown. “Did I do something wrong?” She asked. She was sure she hadn’t…

“Not you. You came in here with a man well wanted by Jabba the hutt. That makes you an accomplice. We just need to bring you along…” He started, a frown quickly replacing his features as he drew his pistol and fired suddenly, Karla watching the action with some confusion, not really understanding what was happening until it happened. Karla found her muscles tighten as the stun blast struck her before she knew it. She fell back, her senses overloading.

“Jokka! What did you-” Ova yelled out among some surprised gasps, but a quick glare from the older man shut everyone up. Looking to his partner, he motioned towards Karla. “Take her to Jabba’s. I’ll go collect Jerock.” He told his partner, and it was the last thing Karla heard before the darkness took her. 

* * *

_ Tatooine. Mos Eisley. Jerock. _

Entering the cantina, he felt eyes dig into him for a moment, but most left him alone quickly. Bored with his appearance. That was good. With a soft smirk, he walked causally towards the barkeep, tapping the counter twice. "I'm looking for a high risk game." He said loudly, enough to reach some ears.

"There's one near the back... But isn't it a little too hot for you to be here Jerock. Last I heard, Jabba wanted your head." The barkeep spoke louder, and that drew a few more looks, but Jerock kept his cool despite being surprised. So word had got around.

"I sorted it all out. The deal was broken by his 'friends.' I dealt with them, he's happy as a bean. I guess he just didn't care to update everyone about that." He lied with the truth. The deal was bad the moment he'd taken the package onto his ship. Weapons to a group looking to overthrow some cartel on some planet he didn't care to remember. Only when he got there, they took the weapons and his ship, damn pirates.

Far as he knew, they hadn't been dealt with, but the point was, he was blamed, and he barely got out of there alive. It wasn’t his fault, and everyone here didn’t need to know that he hadn’t exactly dealt with it. "Hmh. Well, best hope you don't piss anyone else off." The barkeep warned, and Jerock offered them a smile before standing and walking over to the group. Two humans and a Cerean. 

"Gents. Don't mind if I join do you?" He asked, keeping that friendly smile up as he did. This was going to be easy.

Or not. The Cerean was a lot craftier then Jerock had given him credit for, and four rounds in, he was starting to look a little lighter in the pockets, not only that, this was taking too long. "Damn boys. I'm having fun. But I need to make a quick credit. So let's put this all on one more game." Jerock offered, and while the Cerean, who had quite the stash was looking interested, the other two humans looked annoyed.

"What do you have then?" A younger one asked, barely a hair on his chin that wasn’t curled.

"I... have a XS stock light freighter. And I'm willing to bet it in for every credit." Jerock told them, and that scared the boy off, who took his credits and left, but the other two stayed, the Cerean giving him a toothy grin.

"I'll take those odds. What's the ship called?" He asked, and Jerock had to think for a moment. He hadn't considered a name...

"She's called... The Blighter. Now. You ready to lose?" He asked, and the large headed alien laughed, throwing every credit he had into the center.

"Terrible name. I'll call her the big bloody horn when I own her." He promised, and the other human pushed his measly credits in.

"I'll call her mine when I win." He said quietly, but Jerock wasn't even paying attention to him. He had bigger threats in front of him.

"Wait... How do I know you even own this ship? Hmm?" The Cerean said, and Jerock leaned back, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a empty vial of coaxium, just one of the things he took from the ship before leaving.

"I can vouch for the man." A dry voice spoke, one Jerock knew, and the Cerean seemed to know it too. "I'll take Jokka's word for it. Deal." The alien stated, and Jerock tried to hold back his smile. This was a game he had to win, and as he got his hand, his smile was full. He'd won. And he didn't even need to cheat.

"Well, I guess I just need to show my hand of a Full Sabacc. Sorry lads. I just got lucky." Jerock stated, his smile turning to a grin, before gathering what was his.

About to stand, he was pushed back into his chair by some rather rough, gloved hands, and his two competitors scampered off when they realized the older man wasn't here for fun. "Terribly sorry, but I'd like to leave now."

"No can do Jerock. Jabba wants a word. I let you have your game, now you play mine." The dry voice spoke, and Jerock found his throat become dryer.

"Jokka. Only three letters away from Jabba. I got quite a number of credits here... How about we split them and just pretend you never saw me." He said, looking to the older man. A human in his late fifties. Hair a mix of grey and black.

"You know the rules Jerock. I take you in warm. Cold. I don't care. I just know you like living, now stand up." He ordered, and, taking a moment to line his pockets with all the credits he had won, Jerock stood, pockets jingling with credits. He knew there was a chance they would be looking for him… But he hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

"You sure we can't come to some deal mate? We're old friends." Jerock pleaded, but that stone cold look told him otherwise. "Fine."

Having been walked outside, Jerock stared at the speeder waiting to transport them. "Come on man. You know I was screwed over." Jerock tried again, but somehow he just knew it wouldn't work.

"How about this. We have the girl you came in with. While I was here, my lad found her a few minutes before I got to you. My boy is already on his way to Jabba's. She might live if you shut up and come along." Jokka threatened, and Jerock was left cursing. They tagged them the moment they got in Mos Eisley. Jabba must have really wanted him.

"She doesn't... Look, she helped me out of a spot. I was just helping her. Tell your boy to drop her. Please." Jerock asked, and Jokka shook his head.

"Even if I wanted too. Dak doesn't keep his communicator on when he’s driving, the imbecilic fool." Jokka stated, and Jerock was left looking up at the sky. "Dak... Dak Noth? Wow. How is the kid?" Jerock asked, and Jokka chuckled to that.

"Doing better then yo-" He started, only for Jerock to spin and slam his arms into the older man's head, knocking the man to the ground before running for the speeder, stopping when a blaster bolt landed suspiciously close to his feet. "Damn it Jerock. I will kill you." The older man yelled, slowly getting himself up.

"Can you blame me for trying!?" Jerock yelled back, and he waited for a bolt, to be stunned or grabbed. Instead, he was left confused when he instead heard Jokka grunting in pain alongside an electrical buzz, and he turned to find a R3 unit, the usual golden rim of it's head, last he saw it, he was sure there were more dents. "Crockpot?" He asked, and the droid responded with several beeps and one creak of metal as it stopped shocking the older man. "Wait... Where is."

He felt a hand grab a hold of the cuff of his shirt before being thrown into the speeder. "Hey!" He called as the R3 unit rocketed itself into the speeder, and finally, he saw the blue skin of a twi'lek. "Ova?" he asked, surprised about the same as when he realized there were two suns to this planet.

"First, you up and vanish on me. Then, you suddenly appear and Jokka is shooting at you. Good thing I heard your name when Dak bloody Noth took that woman. Right when she was doing a check up on Crockpot here. What the frag is wrong with you Jerock?" She asked as she started the speeder and got them out of there, towards the open deserts.

"A mistake. I have a ship, one I own completely this time. Ovasu. I can get us out of here." He told her, and she scoffed.

"Oh I'll get us to this ship. But what about the girl? She's gonna be enslaved by the horrible slug if we don't help her. You know that right. And I'm not enjoying the idea of another girl dying like that." She yelled at him, and he sighed. Things were never bloody easy apparently.

"Yea. I don't ether... If I know that Dak, he's going to take the long route to get back to Jabba's, waiting for Jokka to catch up... It's good to see you Ova." He said, giving the twi'lek a smile.

"Screw you Jerock... Ah, Crockpot thinks it's good to see you too." Begrudgingly said, Jerock leaned back and gave the astromech droid a pat.

"Good to see you too... Let's save someone yea. She is the other captain of our ship anyway."

* * *

_ Tatooine. Sand dunes. Dak. _

Dak grumbled as he pulled the helmet off his head, the fabric catching on the crown of horns he had. "What is taking him so long." The young man whispered, looking to the horizon. Jerock was tough, quick, smart. But Jokka was everything Jerock wasn't. There wasn't a single way the old man wouldn't be here with the smuggler.

Throwing the helmet into his speeder, he glanced at the girl in the back. He had just tied her up, not considering it worth it to waste a pair of stun cuffs on her. She was practically the easiest bounty he'd ever taken in... But then she wasn't really a target. Just a woman fixing that stupid robot Ova kept. Apparently the young engineer couldn't work out what was wrong with the astromech, but the woman who had just arrived knew exactly what was wrong.

He frowned at that. She nearly caught him off guard. Her body tensed, as if she knew something was coming, but a quick stun blast took her out before she could react. It wasn't her fault. The smuggler should have known then to pick up another stray like... He and Ova... The old man was too kind. That kindness got people hurt.

"I shouldn't wait. He'll get there." Dak finally decided, climbing back into the speeder and making sure the communications were off. He enjoyed the silence. The winds and the fact that no one could tell him anything right now. He was his own being right here. Right now. And there was nothing better then that.

Back into the dunes, it wasn't long before he heard the shuffle of movement. The girl had awoken. That was quick. "Don't panic. I'd rather not deal with that. No begging, no screaming, and you can stay awake." Dak said quickly, to make sure she got the message before the usual.

"Can I ask questions?" She asked instead, and that left him with a frown. Questions. That was a first. No one had asked to ask questions. And no one was that calm.

"Three." He told her. Deciding to humor the poor girl. After all, she'd most likely end up a slave at the end of the day. He had some sympathy for that ending.

"What gave me away? I was so sure this would never happen." She asked, and he looked back at her. Near human. The eyes and sharpness of the ears told him that much. Her own expression changed as she got a good look at his face. "You're a Zabrak?" She then asked, and he snarled at her before she leaned back into her chair. But she didn't show any fear. Merely, curiosity. That worried him.

"That is two questions. I do not know what you mean for the first, you are being used to lure Jerock into being captured more easily. If you have a bounty of your own, I have not seen it, nor has the guild posted it. As for the second... No. I am not a Zabrak. I am Dathomirian." He answered, and that left her shocked. Quite so.

"I heard most of you were wiped out in the war." She told him, and he smirked. Not a question. not really.

"You're misinformed. The war had purged nearly all the nightsisters. The su- Nightbrothers were mostly left untouched. But Dathomir is a large planet. We survived." He told her, expecting nothing from the conversation. He rarely told anyone about that. Dathomir. But she was going to die anyway. Maybe years from now, maybe today. So it did not matter.

"That's... Good to hear. I'm glad." She told him, with more sincerity then he had needed. Expected really. But he glanced back at her, knowing full well the tone of her voice was that... Of sympathy from a similar suffering.

"You have one more question." He told her, and that straightened her up as she considered what it'd be. He'd had worse talks with bounties before, he supposed.

"So. Jerock had a bounty on his head huh?" She asked, and he decided that this was the question he had expected first, given how quick the response formed in his mind. But just as he was about to explain why her fate turned an unlucky path, she spoke again. "No, wait, I have a better one." She told him, and he was left curious to what could be better then that.

"What?" He asked, lured in, he turned around to face her, watching as the young woman leaned in towards him.

"What's your name?" She asked, and he was left speechless. A question... Wasted. He thought. It had to be wasted. Who would ask this? "Dak Noth." He told her anyway, looking back at her hard.

"That's a cool name. I'm Karloret Nobota. And I'll jump now." She told him as she stood up and jumped off the speeding speeder. Dak was too surprised to register what the hells it was she was doing, until he turned back to face forward and realized why. A sandcrawler. Still as a stone and he was about to crash into it. Hard turning left, the speeder caught the end of it and he lost control from there, being flung out of the vehicle and onto the sand.

"Damn... it." He groaned, sitting himself up and watching as a troop of Jawa's looked down at him, yelling and screeching at him, some waving stones and blasters around. He looked for his speeder, but found it turned upside down, and the time to take to flip it would annoy him. He just pointed at the downed speeder and turned back to where the girl had jumped. "That insane... Well played. Insane, but well played." He decided, hearing the swarm of Jawa's begin to tear his speeder apart as he started running up the dune to find her.

The sands didn't offer her much a hiding place. "Insane and stupid. Where the hell could she run anyway. She'll die from the heat or dehydration... Idiot." Mumbling, he reached the apex of the hill and searched for her, but he couldn't see her. Had she made it further then he thought? That didn't make sense... "Where... Are you. Karloret." He eyed the trail of disturbed sand that signaled her footsteps... But they were circled… Around him. 

"Hi." She whispered into his ear, and before he could react, her foot connected with his side and sent him tumbling down the hill, landing on his blaster, he grumbled and stood back up, looking up the hill at her. She hadn't bothered to take the restraints off. In fact, she almost looked disappointed, but her gaze was at the Jawa's stripping the speeder, they worked fast. "You let them tear it apart." She said aloud.

"You caused me to crash." He told her, pulling his blaster out and aiming it at her, but for some reason, he felt like he wasn't close enough to be a danger to her. The kick hadn't hurt, but it had power behind it, enough that when caught off guard, he was pushed back like that from a kick, any other person would have perhaps bothered him, not push him.

"To be fair. I had mostly hoped you'd avoid the behemoth and come back around, then I would have sneaked back on and hijacked it. Sadly, it seems nether of us knew how this would go... So. How are we going to handle this." She called out to him, almost taunting him with the air of uncaring that wafted off her.

He started upwards slowly, not towards her, just so he could be on level ground with her, all the while he resisted the itch to fire his blaster and tug at his clothes and armor. Damn sand. "I'll ask that you come over here. Slowly. And allow me to replace those bindings with stun cuffs. Then, we're going to walk towards Jabba's palace, and hope a lift comes before we die." He told her, but knew that he wasn't going to get it easy.

"See, I don't like that plan. I was kinda hoping you'd say we'd duke it out or something. I've never fought with someone of your kind. Thought it'd be a challenge." She told him, and he stared at her, clicking his tongue.

"I was a sunbro- Nightbrother once. You really think you can handle that? Someone who knows so much of the suffering my people went through?" He asked her, expecting her to falter. She was brave, he'd give her that, but bravery only got someone so far.

"I survived my own purge, Dak. You'll find I'm not so easily taken down when I'm prepared." She spoke, her voice deadly, a spark of anger flashed across those violet eyes of hers. It caught him by surprise that, the anger she had wasn't directed at him, but, someone behind him, yet he knew that no one was there. She seemed to focus back to him, but before he could move up on her, the whine of an engine could be heard, too loud to be a speeder. "No way." He heard from the girl, as the two of them turned to see a freighter fly towards them. Old, worn down, the ramp opened up and Dak hissed at the sight of the smuggler. 

"Dak Noth. How you doing kid. It's been a while." The older man spoke, a blaster in hand and aimed at him. Dak had faith in his own abilities, but Jerock was as good a shot as he was a pilot.

"Is Jokka alive." Dak called, and he pondered who could be piloting this ship, but he had an idea. Stupid girl shouldn't have involved herself. "Damn it Ova." He whispered, but the only answer he got from Jerock was a nod.

"Karla, you still want to share the ship? I'm thinking of calling her, The Blighter!" Jerock called to the girl, who's attention was on him and the ship.

"That's a stupid name, and yea. I can't really say no now." The girl called, and Dak cursed. He could start shooting, but it almost seemed pointless.

"If Jokka is alive, then you know he's already made the call. He'll be coming." Dak told the older smuggler as they reached a hand for the girl, the ship getting closer until she could jump up to the ramp. She looked back down at him, and Dak sighed.

"Oh come on Dak. You're older then that kid. You really think I can't handle him?" He called back, but the girl whispered something to the older man, and he paused for a moment. "Dak. You're one for honor. Get on board." The smuggler told him, and Dak almost fired a blaster bolt just then.

"I'm not taking your pity. Just go." Dak called back, and the man shook his head.

"The girl makes a point. No one is going to pick you up when they're busy chasing us. We can drop you off sooner. Or after we escape. Hell, we get shot down, and they'll try to make sure I survive, you can walk me out like your prize toy. But I am not gonna let you die like this, not after what I did to help you off that rock." Jerock called back, and Dak stared him down, glanced back at the Jawa's, who seemed to wonder if they were going to get a greater prize then the speeder, and sighed.

He was a man of honor. Besides. There was no way they could actually escape... "Fine." He whispered, not willing to give the old man a verbal acknowledgment as he started to the ship, holstering his blaster.

* * *

_ Tatoonine. The Blighter. Karloret. _

Back on the ship, Karla let out a sigh of relief. It was cooler then being in the blazing heat of those two suns. This planet was a hellhole. Still, she had to keep her guard up, Jerock told her that the bounty hunter. Dak Noth, would honor the agreement, so it wasn't necessary to tie him up, she still felt uncomfortable being in a closed space with him. His body was armored and covered in light clothe, leaving only his head to be seen.

A subspecies of Zabrak. Dathomirian's were half human, half Zabrak. Albeit, the human part was a hard thing to see. She remembered Master Eeth Koth. But, she could see that Dak's face was less... It looked and she could assume felt more human. She thought about a dark force user that was active during the war. Dak shared a similarity to them. His skin was a shade of red, not deep red, but it was still a crimson red color, the black tattoos that shaped and spiraled his face and she assumed the lower parts of his skin made him unique and interesting to look at. He was also massive. His zabrak blood clearly. She could only assume what muscles were under the suit.

"Could you help with this." She asked him, to distract from the idea he could easily take her down in this confined space, but the man simply walked up to her and loosened the bindings around her wrists. "Thank you."

"No worries. This is a strange situation. But Jerock has always been one for those." He told her, and she smiled. It seemed Jerock got around.

"He helped you get off Dathomir then? How long ago?" She asked, and he frowned. Perhaps she had stepped over the boundaries of what was too personal to ask, but he just sighed and took a seat.

"About three years ago. I am, in galactic years, twenty two. But he looks at anyone under the age of twenty five like they are child that needs caring for." Dak stated, and Karla thought about it. He chose to help her, despite being able to leave her behind, twice now. He was almost like a father, protecting his children. _ Aideen. _ The name meant something to him. How he apologized to it when he thought they were to die.

"I am twenty, I suppose. One more question. Can you answer the third question before I changed it?" She asked, and he looked at her, an annoyed look, he turned away, but she felt like he was smiling. Just trying to hide it.

"He did a run for Jabba. Deliver some weapons to a pirate crew. Get some spice in return. But the story goes that he was betrayed when he got there. They took the ship, the weapons, and he never saw the spice. That was the last transmission we ever got. Jabba knew finding the pirates would be nearly impossible. But a smuggler without a ship? Should have been easy. Jerock just knows how to fight smart. Man is unstoppable if he puts effort into it." The man spoke, his voice soft, and Karla stared closely at him.

"You look up to him." She deduced, and he looked at her like she was a strange being, his cheeks a deeper shade of red then normal, but he quickly regained his composure.

"He's a good guy. But I have a job to do. As soon as our agreement is over, I'll be doing what I can to bring him in. You best not be around." He told her, and this time she was left smiling. This Dak was a nice guy. And barely any older then herself. Only two years...

The ship rocked suddenly, the sounds of blasters hitting the shields. The girl, who Jerock had briefly introduced formally as Ovasu Lottatock and the girl Karla previously met before he took over the pilot seat, popped into the common room, looking rather worried. "There is a ventral laser cannon turret, looks shoddily installed but Jerock could use the help it can offer getting this bug off our backs." She told them, but Dak stayed seated, content to let things play out.

"Show me." Karla said, and the blue skinned girl lead her towards the vent. "Really? Who designed this ship?"

"It was installed after. I'll have to spruce it up a bit, but for the most part, it shouldn't fall off while you're in it. Good luck!" Ova quickly said, before racing off to another part of the ship. Shaking her head, Karla climbed down into the turret seat. Attached to a quad cannon, she almost felt like climbing back out. The whole turret felt like it would fall off the hinges. Eyeing a headset, she pulled it on and tried to turn the turret, but found it too loose to have any proper control.

"Anyone with a headset on? I can barely control this turret, let alone aim it." Karla told anyone listening as she swirled the turret around, just catching a flash of the ship following them.

"I don't need you to shoot it, I just need you to make him think you'll hit him if he doesn’t try to avoid it. I got a plan." Jerock's voice came through, and with a shrug, Karla swirled the turret in the direction of the ship and fired, watching as it maneuvered for a shot that wouldn't hit. Getting a better look, she felt as if she knew what kind of ship it was, but she wasn't sure.

"Is that a... Firespray? I think it is." Karla asked, firing another blast at it. These cannons had some punch to them, but every shot also felt like her grave reaching for her as the vent rattled dangerously.

"Yea. The kid who owns it calls it the Slave 1. Keep him moving just a bit longer." He told her, and Karla nodded, firing again and again. The shots were unpredictable, and soon the Slave 1 stopped moving so much, realizing that no shot was a real threat to it.

"Damn it. He's... Wait. Is that a sandstorm?" She asked, turning the turret to eye the swirling clouds of sand that the ships were racing towards. "That's going to clog the thrusters. Jerock!" Karla yelled, almost about to climb up and try to stop him before they went any further, despite knowing she wouldn't reach him.

"Not if we're quick. Hold on!" And just like that, they entered into the sandstorm. Sand cracked into the glass of the turret as she tried to gain a sense of what he was doing, she felt the ship drift and turn, until suddenly they were leaving the sand storm behind from the way they came, and there was no ship in sight. "Alright, the pirate, or someone, installed some kind of stealth system, but it isn’t gonna be working for us yet. However I did get a jammer to work. His systems shouldn’t be able to detect us and I hope he’ll assume it’s because of the storm. As long as he doesn't turn around, we'll be fine."

He spoke true. The Slave 1 stayed above the storm of sand, waiting for their ship to come up, or for the storm to subside and a broken ship to lay on the ground, but by the time he realized the trick. They were long gone.

Climbing from the turret, Karla was surprised when the twi'lek suddenly tackled her into a hug. "Oh gosh that was so scary. It's a good thing Jerock can fly right? So. It was his jacket. Thanks for helping him. He told me how you two met and that's really brave, rescuing him from a bunch of evil pirates." She spoke, and Karla was overcome with a sense of wanting to hug this adorable girl back, only just holding herself back.

"He rescued me just as much as I rescued him really." Karla shrugged. It wasn’t too big a deal. Still… After five years, all of this suddenly happened. It was if the force was calling for her to step back into it. 

She refused.

* * *

_ Tatooine. The Blighter. Jerock. _

Ova led Karla to the cockpit. It was large enough to fit them and a few more, and Karla noticed how there were two seats. “Ova, take a seat.” Jerock said when he noticed them. The young girl excitedly jumped into the second seat. “Keep us moving forwards for another five minutes. Then find a place that won’t kill us to set us down. Yell if the sensors pick up another ship. And don’t crash. Karloret, keep watch here. If it lights up, find me.” Jerock made sure Ova had it handled before leaving the two girls to keep them on course.

“Old man.” Dak was quick to cross his arms. It was hard to tell how he felt. Was he relieved or disappointed they got away? Jerock found him in the common room, sitting rather comfortably. 

“Dak. Any preference where you’d like to be dropped off?” Jerock asked kindly, sitting across from the young man.

“Jabba’s palace.” Dak stated, giving Jerock a long look, knowing the older man would deny that request. With a sigh, he leaned into the chair. “Anywhere. Sooner then later.” 

“Sure… But.” Jerock started, stopping when Dak raised his hand, fist clenched. 

“You do not get to but.” The young zabrak growled. The boy was still not pleased with him. Jerock knew that. 

“Let me make this up to you. I brought you here. I can get you out now.” Jerock wasn’t sure if the boy would listen, and he narrowed his eyes as he waited for some kind of response. 

“Why even bring me here in the first place. Just so I could be pushed into another hellhole of slavery and betrayal?” Dak remained calm despite his obvious anger. Jerock had to give him credit for that. 

“Because I didn’t own that ship. Yes I called it mine. Yes I cared for it. But that was because it was… I flew it. Jabba owned it. I own this ship. I will, own this ship. Then, I’m going to find the pirates that stole Jabba’s ship, along with the merchandise. I will take everything back, and then I will give it all to Jabba. And I will take you, and Ova and get you out of here. Like I promised.” Jerock stood. He meant every word. He wasn’t going to let these kids down.

Dak stayed seated for a couple more minutes, his gaze matching Jerock’s. Until finally. He stood up. “What about the her.” Dak asked, leaving Jerock confused for but a moment. But he realized who they meant. 

“Karloret? She helped me out… Plus. She’s… It’s hard to explain. But she’s been alone for a long time. Like you were. I’m not leaving her behind. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s with us. I want you with us too.” Jerock stepped towards Dak. The boy was taller then him, by at least half a dozen inches, and Jerock was tall. He forgot how tall the boy was. Still, he held his hand out for Dak to take it.

“You’re a damn fool old man. Jerock Tornra. Ovasu Lottatock. Dak Noth… Crock...Pot. And Karloret Nobota. We’re a weird little family of yours huh?” Dak smirked, and Jerock shook his head as the boy took his hand, shaking it hard. 

“You know I don’t think of it like a family.” Jerock leaned against the nearby wall, frowning at something digging into his shoulder. Was this a door? No… A closest. “Besides. We might need to pick up a couple more. I doubt the four of us could take down a gang of pirates.”

“Four and a half if we include the astromech. And don’t lie. You long for a family. I know this.” Dak stated, but Jerock was too interested in trying to get the door he found open. How had he missed this? Perhaps because of the fact the door was out of power. 

“Hold on. Dak, could you help me with this.” Picking up a piece of rebar, Jerock hilted it into the barest opening of the door. “This is jarred closed. Get on the other side.”

“Why?” The boy asked, but he still followed Jerock’s order, getting on the other side. Jerock pried open enough space for the stronger man to start pulling, and their combined efforts was enough to pry the door open. Just enough to see inside. The sight leaving the two men quite surprised. “What… Is that?”

“I think… Hold on. Karla!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. It has been a literal year since I last posted to this. Apparently I had written about about a third of the chapter before deciding to focus on my other work. Nice to know I had a lot going for this chapter. Still, I added, improved and changed some things around. I plan on working on my two works chapter by chapter. I'll focus on Spider-girl, then here, until I finish Spider-girl. Then I will be directing my full attention here. 
> 
> This is a story I've been dreaming future chapters for, for a while. A story I want to make that is mostly my own. I don't own star wars or anything related to it. Doing the best I can. Anyway. Thank you for reading! I hope it doesn't take me another year just to get the third chapter out. 
> 
> Also, for anyone reading, should I just get rid of the lines and keep the planet, location and character and just have that as the break between character shifts. I'm not sure if I should change anything or not but I want opinions if they're offered.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a thing. To be honest. My main work, Spider-girl, has hit a road block. I have an idea on how I want to end the arc, but not how to get to that end, nor do I want to rush it. So I made this, in hopes of bettering myself, making another story that people might enjoy, and perhaps giving me the time I need to get back into Spider-girl. Until then, this is a new story.


End file.
